A Weekend in Anguilla, Off the Beaten Path
Two days on Anguilla is not a preview, it is the whole trip: Shoal Bay East, Meads Bay, and Rendezvous Bay, one proper beach-bar meal, and nothing else forced onto the schedule. Fly into Sint Maarten’s Princess Juliana Airport (SXM), then take the public ferry from Marigot to Blowing Point, roughly 20 to 25 minutes across open water. Anguilla is British, quiet by design, and firmly not part of St Martin, whatever the shared airport ride out of SXM might suggest.
Price everything in East Caribbean dollars (EC$), pegged to the US dollar at a fixed 2.70 since 1976, though most tourist menus just quote straight in USD anyway: this island runs upscale-Caribbean expensive, not backpacker cheap, a deliberate choice behind Anguilla’s ban on cruise ships, casinos, and high-rise hotels. It answers to its own elected House of Assembly, not to St Martin or Sint Maarten next door, the island most visitors physically pass through to get here. The UK FCDO flagged a 2025 rise in gang-related gun crime and robbery on the island; real, worth ordinary after-dark caution, and still rare enough that it rarely touches the beach-resort routine below.
Have more time? The 3-day version adds the first offshore cay day, and the 7-day version works in a Sint Maarten day trip too, because a longer Anguilla stay buys slower mornings, not a longer sightseeing list; the island runs roughly 45 minutes end to end and simply does not have enough distinct sights to fill a week of fresh ground.
Book these before you go:
- A Meads Bay or Rendezvous Bay hotel , the west-end resort strip fills up fast across the December-to-April dry season.
- A Shoal Bay East reef snorkel tour , the simplest way to see the reef right off the sand without hauling your own gear down.
- A private SXM-to-Anguilla ferry transfer , worth locking in if you would rather skip the Marigot taxi run and the public ferry’s fixed departure times.
Day 1: Shoal Bay East and the harbor everyone skips
Land at SXM, clear the Marigot ferry (about US$30 each way, plus a separate departure tax, no reservation needed), and taxi over to a West End or Sandy Ground base. First stop is Shoal Bay East, a roughly two-mile run of powder sand on the north coast that keeps landing on “world’s best beach” lists, with reef right off the shore and a line of beachfront shacks serving grilled fish and rum punch.
Save the evening for Sandy Ground, the working harbor beach at Road Bay, this itinerary’s quiet offbeat pick. Fishing boats still launch off the same sand where the ferry crowd lands, and this is where Anguilla’s national sport started: wooden-hull boat racing, born in the early 1900s when men rowing home from labor jobs on other islands turned the trip into a race. Grab a table at one of the harbor-front restaurants and watch the boats come in instead of booking anything fancier for night one.
Day 2: Meads Bay, Rendezvous Bay, and a reggae musician’s beach bar
Meads Bay is the glossiest stretch on the island, backed by the resort row that includes Blanchards, the island’s best-known fine-dining name. Walk it in the morning, then move on: Rendezvous Bay, further along the west end, is a long, quiet beach with a clear sightline across the channel to St Martin, and it is home to two beach bars worth actually knowing by name, Sunshine Shack and the Dune Preserve.
Skip Blanchards’ reservation-only tasting menu for your one dinner here and eat at the Dune Preserve instead, owned by Anguillian reggae musician Bankie Banx and home to the annual Moonsplash festival. It costs a fraction of the fine-dining tier, and if you land on a Sunday you get the island-wide “jump-up,” a weekly live-music beach-party tradition that runs at several bars at once, not a one-off event laid on for tourists.
| Day | Focus | Getting there | Rough daily cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Shoal Bay East, Sandy Ground harbor evening | SXM flight + Marigot-Blowing Point ferry (20-25 min), then taxi | $90-130 |
| Day 2 | Meads Bay, Rendezvous Bay, Dune Preserve or Sunshine Shack dinner | Taxi across the West End | $70-110 |
Do you need a rental car for two days on Anguilla?
No. A fixed-rate taxi covers the whole West End-to-Sandy-Ground stretch for less than the cost of a rental plus the temporary Anguilla driving permit (roughly $25 for three months or $15 for a three-day pass), and it skips the adjustment to driving on the island’s left-hand side. Rent a car only if you are staying longer and want to loop the whole island yourself.
Is Anguilla part of St Martin?
No. Anguilla is a separate British Overseas Territory with its own government, currency peg, and laws; St Martin (split French and Dutch as Sint Maarten) is a different island entirely, 12 miles south, that most visitors simply pass through by air and ferry on the way in. The shared arrival route is a transit convenience, not a shared identity.
Is it safe to visit Anguilla right now?
Mostly yes, with one real caveat. The UK FCDO’s most recent advisory notes a 2025 spike in gang-related gun crime and robbery, so keep ordinary precautions after dark and skip flashing cash or jewelry, the same as anywhere. Violent crime aimed at tourists specifically stays rare, and the bigger practical risk for most visitors is simply under-budgeting for an expensive island.
Skip Blanchards’ pre-booked tasting menu on your one night here and walk into the Dune Preserve instead: same Rendezvous Bay sand, a fraction of the price, and rum poured by the reggae musician who owns the place.